


Nicole's Bad Day

by Lampshadez



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Champ's gross you've been warned, Champ's still a homophobic shit, F/F, but there aren't any slurs or too gross language used
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8004244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lampshadez/pseuds/Lampshadez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicole is having a bad day - the weather sucks, she's got a mountain of work, and she's barely seen Waverly, though she lives with her.  Sometimes it's the little things (like ticketing your girlfriend's ex) that really cheer a person up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nicole's Bad Day

 Nicole Haught was having a bad day.  Calamity Jane had chewed a hole in one of Nicole’s work shoes.  It wasn’t big enough to really be seen, but it was definitely big enough to get Nicole’s sock thoroughly wet in the time it took to walk in the snow from her front door to her car.  She knew she needed new shoes anyway – Waverly had been telling her for weeks that she was one long workday away from wearing a hole in her soles – but Nicole kept putting it off.  Speaking of Waverly, Waverly’s recent move into Nicole’s apartment is what got Calamity Jane so unnerved that she was chewing Nicole’s clothes to start with.  She wouldn’t touch anything of Waverly’s, no; her newfound discomfort at the idea of another person in the house (though the vet assured Nicole that it was normal for cats to act out when there is something like a move or a new tenant in the house, regardless of how much Jane usually got along with Waverly) only ever resulted in tampering with Nicole’s things.

Before Nicole even went to work, she slept through her alarm and awoke to an empty bed – Waverly was pulling an all-nighter with Wynonna to close a particular revenant case.  In Nicole’s rush to get ready, she didn’t have time to make coffee.

By the time she got to work, before she could even make a cup of what passed as coffee there, she was handed a huge stack of files by Nedley.

“Good morning, sir,” she said.

“Morning, Haught,” Nedley replied.  He tapped the top of the stack.  “Someone went out onto the mayor’s ranch last night and tipped a few of his cows.  He’s calling for an in depth investigation of such vandalism.”

“You’re kidding,” Nicole said.  Nedley gave her a look, and she felt a bit of a pang for not holding her tongue.  “Sir, this is, what, a year’s worth of our vandalism calls?”

Nedley nodded.  “He wants the investigation to go back at least five years.”  Nicole’s jaw actually dropped at that.  “The rest are in the archives.  I took the liberty of getting you started and pulled these for you.”

“Thanks, sir.”

“So, get started, Haught,” Nedley called over his shoulder as he turned and headed back into his office.

Nicole looked down at the sizeable stack in her arms and sighed, then headed to her desk.

**-WE-**

When Nicole’s lunch break finally rolled around, she was excited to stop into the Black Badge office and get lunch with Waverly.

“Hey,” Nicole said, popping into the office.  “Where’s Waverly?”

Wynonna looked up from a small mountain of paperwork.  “You just missed her.  She was up all night, she went home.”

Nicole’s face visibly fell.  “Oh.”

“Did you two have plans?”

“No,” Nicole said.  “No, I just thought I might stop in and catch her before she left.”

“Yeah, well, too late.”

Nicole gave her a look.

“I was just about to go get food, if you want to come,” Wynonna tried again.

Nicole shook her head.  “I can’t, I don’t have a lot of time.  I’ll just eat at my desk.”

“Okay,” Wynonna said.  “See ya.”

Nicole nodded at her then left.

**-WE-**

Nicole grinned (for the first time that day) as she triumphantly placed a file on Nedley’s desk.

“A complete report of vandalism in Purgatory in the past five years,” Nicole presented.  “It includes charts and figures that show that instances of vandalism overall have been on the decline, but I also have included suggestions on how to reduce them further.”

“Thanks,” Nedley said, looking through the file.  “It looks good.  And, you finished it sooner than I thought you would.”

Now, Nicole wasn’t afraid of hard work.  She loved her job and she loved doing her best at it.  However, she was pretty tired and thought maybe Nedley would let her go home early, or put her on something easy like front desk duty after getting all that work done.

“I assure you, sir, it is a complete and thorough report.”

“No, I believe you, Nicole,” Nedley said.  “You always do good work.”

Nicole smiled slightly to herself at the compliment.

“How about you finish out your shift out on patrol?” Nedley continued, and Nicole’s grin disappeared.  “It’s still pretty snowy out there, and the whole damn town forgets how to drive in this weather.”

“Right,” Nicole said.  “So, I’ll go on patrol for the next couple of hours until my shift is up.”

Nedley nodded.  “Yes.  Thanks.”

Nicole recognized that as a dismissal and stood up.  “Yes, sir.”

**-WE-**

When Nicole got into her patrol car, she noticed that the gas tank was almost empty, because of course it was.  She put gas in the car and then set about on her usual patrol route, keeping an eye out for anyone either stuck in the snow or driving recklessly.

She drove for nearly an hour and a half and found no one.  She lingered near the bars, too, just to keep an eye out for anyone driving in a condition they shouldn’t be in, but generally the citizens of Purgatory were unusually well behaved.  She could hear calls come in over the radio, but by the time she got there, another deputy had already arrived.

Then, just as Nicole was going to do one last pass through town then head back to the station, she saw a familiar pickup truck going too fast.

With a very pleased grin, she turned on her sirens.

**-WE-**

“You have any idea how fast you were going?”

Champ Hardy looked out his open window with a disgusted face.  “Aw, come on.  If you’ve heard I go too fast, it’s a lie.”

Nicole ignored the poorly constructed innuendo.  “License and registration.”

“Seriously?”

Nicole cocked her head, challenging him to give her a reason.  “License and registration.”

Champ sighed and got them.

“Come on, man-.”

“Officer.”

“Officer, come on, can’t you just let me off with a warning?” Champ asked.  He smirked at her, trying to use what he thought of as his charm.  “Or, maybe we make some sort of deal.  How about it, eh?  I know I have something you think you don’t like but maybe I can convince you-.”

“Are you trying to bribe a police officer?” Nicole asked, taking his license and registration.  “That’ll get you arrested.

“No,” Champ said, immediately losing all his bravado and getting scared.  “No, please don’t arrest me, I was just kidding-.”

Champ was cut off by Nicole’s laughter.

Champ laughed, too.  “See?  It’s funny, right?  It’s just a joke.”

“Your name is Obediah?”  Nicole was looking at his license.  She knew Champ had had his run ins with the law before, but she’d never personally booked him for anything.  Even when she handcuffed at Bobo’s party, in the chaos of the night she put him in the jail for safekeeping and let him out when they’d given him an antidote.  She’d never had a reason to see his full name before.  It was hilarious.  “Your real name is Obediah?”

Champ looked indignant.  “It’s a family name.”

“Yeah, it’s something,” Nicole laughed, writing out his ticket.  “Obediah Hardy.  Oh, man.”

“Are you allowed to do this?” Champ asked, bothered.  “Make fun of someone’s name?”

“Probably about as much as you are allowed to try to get a cop to sleep with you to avoid a ticket,” Nicole said, ripping off one ticket and handing it to him, then beginning another.

“What’s that for?” Champ asked.

“You’re not wearing a seatbelt,” Nicole said, ripping the ticket and handing it to him.  “Drive safe, alright?  God forbid something happen to you, Obediah.”

“It’s Champ,” he said, taking the ticket.

“Sure it is.”  Nicole looked at him, and he was unsure as to why.  Finally, he got the message and put his seatbelt on.  Nicole nodded and stepped back. “Have a great night, Obediah.”

She smiled to herself all the way back to her car.

**-WE-**

When Nicole got home that night, she was still in a good mood.

“Hey,” Waverly said when Nicole walked in.  She was standing in the kitchen, making dinner.  “How was your day?”

“Shitty,” Nicole said.  “At least to start with.  Then it got a lot better at the end.”

“Yeah?  That’s good,” Waverly said.  “What changed?”

“I ran into Champ.”

“And that made your day better?”

“I got to give him two tickets, and I learned his real name.”

Waverly turned and gave her a look.  “Did you think his real name was Champ all this time?”

“No,” Nicole said quickly.  Waverly cocked an eyebrow at her.  “Okay, yes.  But y’all have some very weird names up here.”

Waverly couldn’t help but nod in agreement.  “I think Obediah takes the cake though.”  She turned back to the stove and got back to cooking.

Nicole laughed.  “Indeed it does.”  She walked up behind Waverly and put her arms around her.  “I love you, you know that?”

Waverly leaned her head into Nicole’s chest.  Nicole was in her work boots and Waverly was barefoot, so she was a lot shorter than Nicole.

“I love you, too,” she said.  “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m great,” Nicole said.  She kissed Waverly’s head.  “I’m really glad you’re here.”

“What, because I cook for you?”

Nicole nudged her a bit.

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” Waverly corrected, grinning.

**Author's Note:**

> No offense to any and all folks named Obediah out there. Also Champ is gross.


End file.
